Book launch helps tell story of William Powell’s achievements in golf and life

The story of the William Powell, designer and builder of Clearview Golf Club near East Canton, is the story of a civil rights leader. The author and illustrator of a book — “Twice as Good” — about Powell are in Stark County celebrating his achievements.

The inspiring story of Clearview Golf Club designer and builder William Powell was told Thursday in the words of a book, the thoughts of its author, the memories of Powell’s daughter, and the actions of children as they began to learn his beloved sport.

Richard Michelson — the author of “Twice as Good: The Story of William Powell and Clearview, The Only Golf Course Designed, Built, and Owned by an African-American” — read his children’s book in public for the first time to Allen Elementary School fourth-graders gathered Thursday morning in the lounge of Olivieri Towers on the campus of Walsh University.

“This is a very special day,” said Powell’s daughter, former LPGA tour professional Renee Powell, who now operates Clearview in Osnaburg Township. Powell was introduced to the students by Nancy Blackford, vice president of academic projects at Walsh.

Powell nodded toward the author and said that “although he never met my father, he learned a lot about him, and now you’re here to learn about him and launch this book in Canton.”

After the reading, the Allen students walked with Powell to nearby Alumni Arena in the Gaetano M. Cecchini Family Health and Wellness Complex, where golf professionals from The First Tee, along with members of Walsh University’s men’s and women’s golf teams, gave golf instruction to the youngsters.

Even in the short time they worked with the students, teaching them life skills was as important as teaching them golf skills, said Terry Taylor, golf professional and program director for First Tee.

“It shows them that you don’t go out and swing wildly at something — in golf or life,” he explained. “You pick a target. Hopefully, they’ll take that to heart, as Bill Powell did, and have a goal.”

AUTHOR SPEAKS

Later Thursday afternoon Michelson kicked off Black History Month by speaking to Walsh students on “Multicultural Authoring,” using his writing about William Powell as an example. And Thursday night the author lectured at Barrette Business and Community Center at Walsh, basing his talk — “Understanding Social Justice Through Children’s Literature” — on the book “Twice as Good.”

As he was reading the book to students in the morning, Michelson explained to them that the book’s title came from the advice a school principal once gave William Powell about surviving in a prejudiced world.

“The school principal had told him, ‘If you are going to get ahead in this world, you’re going to have to be twice as good (as other students).’ ”

Michelson called “Willie” Powell a civil-rights leader — one of many local leaders on whose shoulders notable leaders such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood.

“When I was young, it never occurred to me that I could change history or that I could make a difference,” he told the Allen students. “It never occurred to me that history happened in my own backyard.”

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The author explained to his young audience how Powell, as a youngster himself, had been told that blacks weren’t allowed to play in area golf courses — so eventually Powell built his own.

“What inspired me to write the book was I saw a man who refused to take no for an answer.”

Michelson said he first learned about Powell from reading an article about him in the Wall Street Journal. Primarily a writer of children’s books, Powell’s achievements in life fit in nicely, he said, with other books he has written about civil-rights figures.

The reason for the reading of “Twice as Good” on Thursday indeed was the story it tells, said the author. He was not there to lecture the students. He said after the reading that he was “planting seeds” and letting them grow in the minds of the young people.

“Eventually, as they grow, if these students run into a barrier in their own lives, hopefully they will remember the story of William Powell, the story of this man who ran into many boundaries, and who didn’t let them stop him,” said Michelson.